ENERGY RESOURCES: FOSSIL FUELS 2

Energy Resources

Fossil fuels

Crude oil (called "petroleum") is easier to get out of the ground than coal, as it can flow along pipes. This also makes it cheaper to transport.

I ought to point out that some scientists are claiming that oil is not a 'fossil' fuel - that it is not the remains of prehistoric organisms after all. They claim it was made by some other, non-biological process. Currently this is not accepted by the majority of scientists,

Natural gas provides around 20% of the world's consumption of energy, and as well as being burnt in power stations, is used by many people to heat their homes.
It is easy to transport along pipes, and gas power stations produce comparatively little pollution.

Advantages

• Very large amounts of electricity can be generated in one place using coal, fairly cheaply.
• Transporting oil and gas to the power stations is easy.
• Gas-fired power stations are very efficient.
• A fossil-fuelled power station can be built almost anywhere, so long as you can get large quantities of fuel to it. Didcot power station, in Oxfordshire, has a dedicated rail link to supply the coal.

Disadvantages

• Basically, the main drawback of fossil fuels is pollution.
  Burning any fossil fuel produces carbon dioxide, which contributes to the "greenhouse effect", warming the Earth.
• Burning coal produces more carbon dioxide than burning oil or gas.
  It also produces sulphur dioxide, a gas that contributes to acid rain. We can reduce this before releasing the waste gases into the atmosphere.
• Mining coal can be difficult and dangerous. Strip mining destroys large areas of the landscape.
• Coal-fired power stations need huge amounts of fuel, which means train-loads of coal almost constantly. In order to cope with changing demands for power, the station needs reserves.
  This means covering a large area of countryside next to the power station with piles of coal.

Is it renewable?

Fossil fuels are not a renewable energy resource.
Once we've burned them all, there isn't any more, and our consumption of fossil fuels has nearly doubled every 20 years since 1900.
This is a particular problem for oil, because we also use it to make plastics and many other products.

www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/fossil.htm

NB2
I gave you the exams you had done the week before and checked the answers.
Homework: Grammar unit15 ,17
Speaking: Have you ever ...? and the simple past to know more specific information
Listening: song: "True Blue" by Madonna. Lyrics and audio.
"Just Shopping" Two women who have been shopping meet and talk about clothes.
Exercises, script and audio
Grammar: A photocopy about the present perfect and the simple past.
HomeworK: I´ll collect the compositions you didn´t do for Thursday. Last call.
workbook.p. 31,32,
NI2
I gave you the exams you had done the week before and checked the answers.
Homework:Workbook.p.30,31,32. Grammar. Unit 29 about may,might and could.
Grammar: a handout about connectors
Listening: st.B.p. 52. Section 4A "Clothes to die for". two people being interviewed about their taste in clothes. A who -says-what exercises and secondly another to listen more in detail.
Vocabulary: St.b.p. 151 . Words related to fashion, items of clothing and materials , shapes and adjectives describing clothes. Test your partner.
Speaking: St.B.p. 52 ."You and your Clothes" To make a speech following and linking one question to the following.
Homework: Reading: St.b.p. 53, activities a,b,c.. Modal verbs , the end of the murder case. Please, focus on modals of possibility and deduction.

BOOK REVIEW

DIFFERENT WORLDS

-The book is a love story and the characters of this book are a daughter, her mother and the boy the daughter likes .the write doesn´t say anything about the father. The mother of the daughter plays the guitar with a group of friends, but when her daughter was born she stops playing because the daughter was born deaf, and this made her very sad.Looking one day by the window the girl falls in love with a boy that is putting fruit in the shop window, but a few minutes later she is sad because she thinks he doesn´t love her because the two lived in separate worlds, that is the reason of title of the book "Different worlds". As well she thinks he doesn´t understand her because he isn´t deaf and all her friends are deaf. But after a time they begin to communicate and they fall completely in love , and he teaches her to play the batery.
ALBERTO MARTÍN MENEDEZ

DRACULA

This is the story of Count Dracula, a very cruel man who lives in Transylvania, and who kills many people which his sharp eye-tooth, and then people are becoming vampires day by day.
All hapenes when Jonathan Harker, a lawyer who lives in London, receives a letter from Count Dracula because he wantes to buy a house near London, and Jonathan decides go to Transylvania to see the Count Dracula to negotiate with him.
After a long travel Jonathan comes to Count Dracula castle, firstly he hopes that everything is monstruos, but nothing happens, however two nights later a lot of things begin to happen in the castle.
One night he discoveres in the basement of the castle three beautiful women who have long sharp eye-tooth, red lips, and they want them to kiss Jonathan, but he in that moment he doesn”t know that the girls are vampires.
But the Count is very strange because he wakes up in the night, and when is arriving at break of day he is sleeping until the next night in a strange kind of box, so Jonathan investigates and discovers that the women he has seen the night before are victims of the Count.
Finally his wife´s (Mina) best friend has been killed, and Dracula is the main suspicious, and is in that moment when Jonathan and his wife want revenge, and soon after Draculas sleeping in his tomb they took sharp stakes and hammered then trough the Count´s heart and cut off his head, and in the end Dracula dies for ever and in the tomb there is only dust.
JUAN SÁNCHEZ RODRÍGUEZ, NI2
NB2
Homework: Wk.p.30
Reading: St.B.p. 40. Section 4A . "From Rags to Riches" about amancio Ortega. Pronunciation mistakes were checked on the blackboard. The questions of the reading were also answered.
Vocabulary: St.B.p.150. clothes and verbs related to them such as take off, try on and the position of the object, e.g. try on this sweater, try this sweater on, try it on. Test your partner .
Phonetics: St.B.p. 40 Sounds like shirt. clothes, blouse,suit .the words were pronounced and classified under each phonetic symbol.
Speaking: A pair work activity about clothes and tenses.
Listening: St.B.p.41 Three people interviewed about Zara stores. Complete the chart with the information. Once done it we read and listened to the script.
Grammar: Present perfect and simple past. St.B.p. 41 and Grammar bank, p.132 .Only the rules were seen
Speaking: St.B.p. 41 "Have you ever done somthing?" to start a conversation and the simple past to ask for details. there was no time to finish this activity , on Thursday we´ll start with it.
Homework: Get the speaking ready, Grammar, unit 17 about the present perfect and the simple past and also a handout, a review of the different kinds of expressing the future with their answers.
NI2
Homework: St.B.p. 51 a review of unit 1. A photocophy about must and can´t for deductions.
Writing: Telling a story. St.B.p. 50 . We saw this activity in detail because a composition must come out of it. questions about the composition, adverbs to make it more vivid and linking words.
We focussed on the tenses (all past tenses) and the structure in paragraphs. the composition should be ready for February 4th . A photocopy with connectors, focussing on story telling.
An activity called "Broken sentences 1 and 2" to put connectors into practice by matching sentences which made sense.
A guided writing to do in groups of three. No one knew what their classmate had written before and the final result was hilarious.
Listening: A beautiful song "Stand by me"
Homework: wk.p. 30,31,32
Grammar, unit 29 may ,might for possibility.

MANTAY RAY

Manta Ray (Manta birostris)
Mantas are found world-wide in tropical to warm temperate seas.
Like sharks and other rays, Mantas are fertilized internally. During courtship, one or more male Mantas chase a female for prolonged periods. Eventually a successful male grasps the tip of one of her pectoral wings between his teeth and presses his belly against hers. Then, the male flexes one of his claspers and inserts it into her vent. The fertilized eggs develop inside a mother Manta's body for a lengthy but unknown period that may be 9 to 12 months or more. One to two pups are born per litter, but no one knows where or when Mantas give birth.
Based on the smallest free-swimming members of this species, newborn Mantas are about 1.2 metres across.
Records of giant Mantas are notoriously difficult to verify. The largest reported in the scientific literature measured 6.7 metres across and there is one report of an individual 9.1 metres across. But most Mantas encountered by people are about 4 metres across.
No one knows how long Mantas live. Based on known lifespans of closely related (but much smaller) warm-water rays, Mantas may live up to 25 years or so.
There are numerous reports, mostly anecdotal, of harpooned Mantas leaping on small vessels and smashing them or their occupants. Some of these cases may have resulted in the death of one or more people due to crushing or drowning, but it must be born in mind that the animal was simply trying to defend itself. Divers have sometimes been injured accidentally while trying to ride or photograph Mantas from too close. But there is no record of an unprovoked Manta attacking or injuring a person.
Only large warm-water sharks, such as the Tiger Shark , are known to prey upon Mantas.
This flattened body form is advantageous for hiding in the bottom sediment, making it difficult for predators to see partially buried stingrays. During the course of their evolution, Mantas lost the stinging barb and their pectoral fins developed into graceful, flapping wings, but their flattened body shape remained .Given the scattered nature of their planktonic food, it is very likely that Mantas migrate. But little is known about where they travel and when.
In vertebrates (backboned animals), sleep is characterized by a profound change in brainwaves. This has never been demonstrated experimentally in Mantas or any other elasmobranch (shark or ray). Actively swimming sharks and rays, such as the Manta, are believed to swim constantly, never stopping from birth to death. Although it is feasible that some parts of the brain shut-down while the parts of the brain responsible for coordinating swimming movements stays awake, this has not been demonstrated experimentally.
Apart from courtship and mating (which is quite elaborate, see above), Mantas do not appear to be particularly social. Mantas frequently aggregate at rich feeding sites and cleaning stations, but there is little evidence of social interaction among them.
Mantas are most commonly seen during daylight hours because that's when most observers are most active. Mantas may feed most actively at night, when many planktonic creatures rise surfaceward, providing a rich bounty on which Mantas may feed.
Divers have observed Mantas as deep as 30 metres, but no one knows how deep they can swim.
The forward-pointing, paddle-like organs at each corner of a Manta's mouth are termed "cephalic lobes". Mantas have been observed using their cephalic lobes like scoops to help push plankton-bearing water into their mouths.
In the 1990's, targeted harpoon fisheries in the Philippines and off the Pacific coast of Mexico decimated resident populations. Due to the scarcity of catches, Mantas are rarely targeted in these locations today.
Mantas are valued commercially for their tasty meat, sandpapery hide, and oil-rich liver. A Manta in captivity is worth a small fortune to any public aquarium with the facilities to display it, a reality that drives a small but recurrent harvest in Japan and possibly other areas.
Mantas seem to be fairly abundant in some areas, rare or absent in others. Until we understand the extent and dynamics of Manta stocks, there is no way to assess their conservation status. Based on their low birth rate, Mantas are probably highly vulnerable to sustained fishing pressure and habitat degradation. This likelihood would seem to favor a cautionary approach to Manta exploitation and management until such time as we have the sound scientific data to make a more informed assessment of this species' risk of extinction.
So little is known about the basic biology and life history of Mantas, little can be said about their importance from a scientific or ecological standpoint. It can be argued that Mantas are important because they add to the beauty, diversity, and mystery of our world. Without Mantas, our planet would seem a significantly poorer place.
www.elasmo-research.org
NB2
The class took place in the laboratory downstairs.
Homework: The photocopy about questions was corrected. Look, many of you don´t do your homework.
I must say that it is up to you to pass your exams or to fail them. My duty is to provide you with the necessary knowledge in the four sills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) , However, if you don´t study enough , you´ll have to be responsible of your exam results, not me.
St.B. p. 38,39 and Wk.p. 28,29
Listening: Three videos of units 1,2,3. With questions, useful phrases and interaction activities.
Homework: Wk.p. 30 and ST.B.p. 40 The reading about Zara and exercises a,b,c.
NI2
Homework: St.B.p.46 and exercises c,d,e .About Henry VII and his wife Katherine Howard.
Listening: St.B.p. 47 .Aboyt Henry VIII´s other wives. a chart to be filled in.
Listening: video of unit 1 ,about a radio actor. I´m afraid I can´t post this activity because of license problems. The exercises were of two kings: questions and true-false statements.
Homework: St.B.p.50. The writing activity. Read the story, understand it and fill in the the correct expressions given. a compositions has to come out of this activity.

ENERGY RESOURCES: FOSSIL FUELS 1

Energy Resources
What do I need to know?
"Energy Resources" is NOT the same thing as "Types of energy".
"Types of energy" means "kinetic energy", "chemical energy" and so forth.
"Energy Resources" is about ways of getting energy so we can generate electrical power.
Most of the Earth's energy comes from the Sun
Solar power, that's obvious, but the energy in coal originally came from the Sun too. Prehistoric plants stored the Sun's energy in their leaves, and when they died and eventually formed coal seams, that energy was still there. So when we burn coal (or any fossil fuel), we're releasing chemical energy that was stored in plants millions of years ago.
The same goes for Wind and Wave power. Waves occur because of winds, and winds blow because the Sun warms our atmosphere. Warm air tends to rise, and winds are due to other air moving in to replace it.
Most power stations burn coal, oil or natural gas to run the generators. Others use uranium, or the flow of water. Electricity is sent around the country using high-voltage power lines. Nearly all of the power we use comes from large power stations, although some places such as isolated farms, or hospitals, have their own diesel generators

Energy Resources:
Fossil Fuels
Coal, oil and gas are called "fossil fuels" because they have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric plants and animals.
How it works:
Coal is crushed to a fine dust and burnt.
Oil and gas can be burnt directly.


The steam that has passed through the power station's turbines has to be cooled, to condense it back into water before it can be pumped round again. This is what happens in the huge "cooling towers" seen at power stations.
Coal provides around 28% of our energy, and oil provides 40%. Mind you, this figure is bound to have changed since this page was written, so check the figures if you want to quote them.
Burning coal produces sulphur dioxide, an acidic gas that contributes to the formation of acid rain. This can be largely avoided using "flue gas desulphurisation" to clean up the gases before they are released into the atmosphere. This method uses limestone, and produces gypsum for the building industry as a by-product. However, it uses a lot of limestone.
Other fossil fuels are being investigated, such as bituminous sands and oil shale. The difficulty is that they need expensive processing before we can use them; however Canada has large reserves of 'tar sands' , which makes it economic for them to produce a great deal of energy this way.
As far as we know, there is still a lot of oil in the ground. But although oil wells are easy to tap when they're almost full, it's much more difficult to get the oil up later on when there's less oil down there. That's one reason why we're increasingly looking at these other fossil fuels.
www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/fossil.htm
NB2
Vocabulary: St.B.p.35. Prepositions
Writing: St.B-p. 37. An informal letter. We did all the exercises and the layout in detail because for next Thursday you´ll have to give me a similar composition , as if you were the student who goes to a family in Brighton and writes to them a presentation letter.
Reading: Test 1, test 2
Listening: Listenings 1 and 2, listening 3, audio1 , audio 2, audio 3.
Answers to the reading and listening
None of these tests lasted very long and seemed rather easy, al least this is what I can infer for the short time it took you to do them. I´ll see it this weekend when I mark them.
Speaking: A test for those who hadn´t done it the days before.
Homework: finish the photocopy with questions, Wkb.p.28,29, St.B.p. 38,39, It´s a review of unit 3.
On Monday the class will be held in the lab downstairs in front of the secretary office.
NI2
Homework: As none of you had done your homework, you´ll have to do it for next Monday: Grammar, unit 28, 115 . I think you you take tings more seriously, otherwise you´ll have problems with your exams. Remember that you can´t complain later as it´s your own responsibility and I´m telling you with plenty of time in advance.
Reading: A multiple choice test
Listening: A multiple choice test about 8 people talikg. Audio. Scripts 1, 2, 3.
Answers to the reading and the listening
I´ll post the answers and exercises in this blog
Reading: St.B.p.48. Understanding information. an exercise about hotel signs.
Vocabulary: St.B-p.48 about expressions related to hotel language.
Reading: St.B.p.116 about choosing a suitable hotel for people with specific characteristics. and p.48 with the description of the hotels.
Homework: Do the grammar units 28,115 and the reading and activities on p.46, 47, all about Henry VIII´s fifth wife.

CORAL REEFS

NB2
Speaking: A test in which you had to talk about a specific topic.
Grammar: A photocopy with questions
Reading: St.B.p. 34 Section 3d "I was only dreaming" WE read some statements and dicussed them .
Listening: Put the sequence of a dream in order and then complete the dialogue between the patient and his psychoanalyst.After that, you had to match the dreams he had with the possible interpretations . Listen and check what Dr. Muller says aout them.
Grammar: St.B.p.35 Review of tenses, examples and their uses. Grammar bank: St.B.p. 130 Rules and a couple of exercises.

LISTENING AND READING TESTS FOR TOMORROW, THURSDAY

NI2
Homework: An exercise about unlees, provided, suppose... used instead of if.
Vocabulary: A review on the adjectives of St.B.p41. To my surprise nobody had studied them, so I let them a few minutes to study and I checked them again. Remember that you must make a serious effort to pass your exams.
Phonetics: St.B.p. 45. About silent letters in words such as sould, foreign,islanf, listen... We practised them and their transcriptions.
Grammar and speaking : Modal verbs : might/could do, must do, can´t do . An exercise called "Can it be True?" , then we put into practice the tenses with a murder case which took us longer because we had to study the chacters ,where they were and their alibies.
homework: Grammar, units 28,115

LISTENING AND READING TESTS FOR TOMORROW, THURSDAY

San Francisco

San Francisco is a major city in California , well-known for its liberal community, hilly terrain, Victorian architecture, scenic beauty, summer fog, and extreme ethnic and cultural diversity. These are only a few of the aspects of the city that make San Francisco one of the most visited cities in the world.

San Francisco is located on a small seven-by-seven mile (11x11km) square of land at the tip of a peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast. It has a population of almost 800,000, but is the center of a metropolitan area of millions. San Francisco is just one of the cities which makes-up the entire San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco's neighbors, cities and towns to the east of the Bay Bridge, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, and south of it are all in separate counties, each with their own city government and local public transportation systems.

What to see:

• Golden Gate— Fashionable neighborhoods with expensive views, historical landmarks - The Presidio and Fort Mason, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
• Fisherman's Wharf— A waterfront neighborhood which encompasses Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square and the ferry launch to Alcatraz Island, as well as a plethora of seafood restaurants and souvenir stores.
• Nob Hill-Russian Hill— Two ritzy neighborhoods with upscale hotels, cable cars, panoramic views and steep inclines.
• Chinatown-North Beach— Two vibrant immigrant communities, stylish laid back 'Little Italy' next to the crowded and largest Chinatown outside of Asia.
• Union Square-Financial District— The center of shopping, theater and art in the city, next to the many skyscrapers of downtown.
  
• Western Addition— A historic neighborhood with many Victorian homes that was once a hotbed of African-American culture. Within the area is also Japantown, the center of San Francisco's Japanese population.
• Haight— Famous for being the home of the Hippie movement, this once bohemian area, although gentrified, is still an eclectic treasure.
• Twin Peaks-Lake Merced— Covering most of southwestern San Francisco, this area is home to many of the taller hills of San Francisco and the large Lake Merced park which contains the San Francisco Zoo.
• Castro-Noe Valley— Colorful and cohesive, the Castro is historically known for being the cultural center of the city's LGBTQ community.
• Southeast San Francisco— A mostly residential area, this district contains several bay-side neighborhoods, many nice parks, and Monster Park, home of the 49ers NFL team.

San Francisco has a mild climate, with wet, mild winters and dry summers. In most months, you can expect the temperature be between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. Be prepared for cool humid weather, even in the summer (except September), when persistent fog often envelops the city.

English is the dominant language spoken in San Francisco. Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese is also widely spoken by San Francisco's large Chinese population. Spanish is also commonly spoken in San Francisco, especially among the Hispanic population, located in the Mission District.

From:www.wikipedia.com

NB2
Grammar: St.b.p.31 "Are you a positive thinker?" with the expressions: I hope so, I hope not, I don´t think so, probably...
Reading: St.B.p. 32 "I´ll always love you" with Will used for promises offers and decisions. Read and write the correct promise on top of the paragraph.
Phonetics: St.b.p.32 Word stress in two-syllable words like secret.forget,e-mail.
Grammar: St.B.p33. Complete the bubbles with "I´ll/shallI?"
section b. Complete the sentences with a verb.
section c. Study the sentences and classify then according to offers, promises or decisions.
Vocabulary: St.B.p.33 Verbs with back such as go back, give back. Listen and check your answers.
Speaking: Communication, p.117 . Write in the bubbles "Shall I or I´ll"
Listening: Song. White Flag by Dido. comple que lyrics with a verb and then answers questions.
Homework: workbook,p. 24,25,26,27
NI2
Homework. Grammar, chapters 6,15,16
Grammar:Conditionals, a review on the three conditionals and words such as unless, provided...
Speaking: Most of the time was devoted to this activity.
- Finish sentences written on the blackboard about the second conditional
-Chain of events about the third conditional
- Complete sentences with the third conditional
- A game also about the third conditional.
Reading: St.B.p. 40 . A story about two mountain climbers. Read out and check mistakes
Listening: St.B.p. 41 . About the end of the story. First some questions to aswer and then true-false statements.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 41. Strong adjectives.such as big-huge, angry-furious, tired-exhausted...
You were announced a reading, listening and speaking test for this week.
Homework: Wk.p. 27,28,29 and the last section of the photocopy about unless..

The city of San Francisco has been the theme of many popular crooners of the 50s , here you have an example by Tony Bennet ."I Left my Heart in San Francisco"

AUSTRALIA CORAL REEFS

Coral Can Recover from Climate Change Damage, New Research Suggests
ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2010) — A study by the University of Exeter provides the first evidence that coral reefs can recover from the devastating effects of climate change. Published Jan. 11, 2010 in the journal PLoS ONE, the research shows for the first time that coral reefs located in marine reserves can recover from the impacts of global warming.
Scientists and environmentalists have warned that coral reefs may not be able to recover from the damage caused by climate change and that these unique environments could soon be lost forever. Now, this research adds weight to the argument that reducing levels of fishing is a viable way of protecting the world's most delicate aquatic ecosystems.
Increases in ocean surface water temperatures subject coral reefs to stresses that lead quickly to mass bleaching. The problem is intensified by ocean acidification, which is also caused by increased CO2. This decreases the ability of corals to produce calcium carbonate (chalk), which is the material that reefs are made of.
Approximately 2% of the world's coral reefs are located within marine reserves, areas of the sea that are protected against potentially-damaging human activity, like dredging and fishing.
The researchers conducted surveys of ten sites inside and outside marine reserves of the Bahamas over 2.5 years. These reefs have been severely damaged by bleaching and then by hurricane Frances in the summer of 2004. At the beginning of the study, the reefs had an average of 7% coral cover. By the end of the project, coral cover in marine protected areas had increased by an average of 19%, while reefs in non-reserve sites showed no recovery.
Professor Peter Mumby of the University of Exeter said: "Coral reefs are the largest living structures on Earth and are home to the highest biodiversity on the planet. As a result of climate change, the environment that has enabled coral reefs to thrive for hundreds of thousands of years is changing too quickly for reefs to adapt.
"In order to protect reefs in the long-term we need radical action to reduce CO2 emissions. However, our research shows that local action to reduce the effects of fishing can contribute meaningfully to the fate of reefs. The reserve allowed the number of parrotfishes to increase and because parrotfish eat seaweeds, the corals could grow freely without being swamped by weeds. As a result, reefs inside the park were showing recovery whereas those with more seaweed were not. This sort of evidence may help persuade governments to reduce the fishing of key herbivores like parrotfishes and help reefs cope with the inevitable threats posed by climate change."
Professor Mumby's research was funded by National Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.
Reef facts
• A coral reef is made up of thin layers of calcium carbonate (limestone) secreted over thousands of years by billions of tiny soft bodied animals called coral polyps.
• Coral reefs are the world's most diverse marine ecosystems and are home to twenty-five percent of known marine species, including 4,000 species of fish, 700 species of coral and thousands of other plants and animals.
• Coral reefs have been on the planet for over 400 million years.
• The largest coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches along the northeast coast of Australia, from the northern tip of Queensland, to just north of Bundaberg. At 2,300km long, it is the largest natural feature on Earth.
• Coral reefs occupy less than one quarter of one percent of the Earth's marine environment, yet they are home to more than a quarter of all known fish species.
• As well as supporting huge tourist industries, coral reefs protect shorelines from erosion and storm damage.
High quality reef videos by Professor Peter Mumby can be viewed at: www.reefvid.org

NB2
Grammar, units 47, 48.
Speaking: It took us a great deal of time to have the speaking activity done. Photo description with the notes I gave you, so that you follow a logical order.
Speaking: You wrote down the photo description to fix the structures.
Phonetics: Contractions I´ll, Won´t.St.b.p. 3º
Listening: St.B.p.31, about positive thinking. Fill in the blanks and then listen for details and take notes
Speaking: social expressions such as congratulations, good luck, don´t worry and so on.
Homework : A speaking test following some questions as clues. If I don´t have time to check that you all have done it, we´ll carry on on Tuesday. During the speaking test, those of you who have finished will work with questions.
NI2
Homework: grammar, unit 5,6, 15,16
Vocabulary:parts of a car and types of transport.
Listening: St.B.p.38. Complete the expressions
Speaking: Retell the story of the listening .Pair work :one retells the story whereas the other shows surprise ,amazement, agrrement...
communication: pair work activity A.p.115, B.p.120. two different stories to read and remember as many details as possible. Retell the story ,the other partner has to use the expressions dealt with before.
"Have you ever....had a puncture or an accident?
Homework: wokbook,p. 24,25,26

THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED

The Woman Who Disappeared was written by Philip Prowse. It is a detective story and for this reason I chose it because I like intriguing books.
The novel tells the story of a beautiful woman about eighteen years old who turns to a detective for help since her twin sister has disappeared. The story begins so.
Although it doesn’t tell when happened, I know the story is set in Los Angeles during a week.
One day the twins arrange to have dinner together, but one of them doesnt’n come. Her sister telephones her, but there is no answer and she doesn’t go to work to her office. After that she goes round to her flat, but there is no one there, so she comes to see a private detective. He finds out that the woman disappeared usually goes to the Cabanas Club with a colleague. She meets a wonderful man who works as a drummer there. The detective investigates this man but he discovers that he has diedd in his bath. The detective calls the police and he is arrested as main suspect of murder. Later he tells the Sergeant that he is a detective and he sets him free. He goes to the disappeared woman´s flat and he notices something unusual. There are very few clothes in the wardrobe. It seems she has planned her disappareance quite carefully. Then he meets her sister at Las Cabanas to ask her some questions but suddenly she walks over towards the ladies’ toilet and she doesn’t come back. The detective looks up and see a man walking across the dance floor. It is one of the men were in disappeared woman´s appartment and they had hit him. He runs off the dance floor and comes to his car. Just then, he feels a terrible pain in his head. Next day he is at the police station again because the day before a police car finds him in the middle of the road. Sergeant is interested in the club. It is owned by criminals. But they can’t prove it. The detective tells him all he knows. Sergeant telephones New York where the disappeared woman´s sister lives and the police tells them that this person doesn’t exist. The detective meets her. He says her that she is the woman who had disappeared. She recognizes it. One night at The Cabanas she sees one of the men who hit the detective. He opens a bag full of diamonds and jewellery. They use the club to buy and sell stolen things. The woman and her boyfriend steal the bag and the criminal realizes it. Then, she comes to see the detective so she is safe. She doesn’t want to tell him the truth about the jewels and for this reason, her boyfriendhas died. Finally, the criminals are arrested.
The protagonists are Lenny Samuel (the private eye) and Helen Garfield (the woman who looks for her sister). The other characters are the porter of the Manson Building where the girl disappeared lives, Mr Myer who is the boss of the woman, Suzy Graham who is her colleague, Benny Greep who is the man that she meets, the cleaner of The Cabanas Club, Jo and a tall friend of his who hit Lenny on the head and Sergeant Murphy who believes Lenny Samuel killed Benny.
I like the story because it is amusing. However, it is predictable too because right from the beginning I imagine the twins are the same person since their names are very similar: Helen and Elaine. The best part of the book is in the end when it is discovered what the criminals did at the club. The story made feel and it incited me to go on reading. I recommend it you because it is interesting. I would read other books by this author if they were something of the sort.
It is important to mention that you always have to tell the truth because in the story the detective is almost killed because the woman didn’t tell himeverything.
INMA SAEZ ALVAREZ NI2
NB2
I guess you all wanted the classes to start and see your dear teacher again. I hope you´re all right ,fresh and relaxed to start a new term with energy and enthusiasm.
BOOK REVIEW - This is an important task you had to do in your holidays , so I´m waiting for you to send me your comments on the books you have read. Remember to scan the image in "jpg" and the text in "doc". They all have to be ready before next Monday.
Let me remind you of the mark notes your parents have to sign and you have to to give them back to me.
Grammar: Units 47 ,48, about questions of all sorts . The interactive section of the exam is going to be based mainly on situations where you´ll have to ask questions related to different situations, that´s why all the chapters about questions are so important. Pair work with several situations. I also gave you a set of topics with lots of questions so that you´ll be able to talk non-stop . Don´t say you´ve run out of ideas because there are thousands of them. The speech is going to be for next Tuesday.
Reading: St.B. p.30. Section 3B. "The Pessimist phrase book" which deals with "Will" used for predictions. A matching exercise with "Wiil and won´t " , then a pair work activity where one was the optimist and the other was the pessimist.
St.B.p. 130 with the rules and a couple of exercises about the topic. I also wrote a summary of the future with the trenses related to it,eg. simple present, present continuous, going to and will.

Vocabulary: St.B. p.30 Opposite verbs.

Homework: Grammar ,units 47, 48.
NI2
I gave you some exercises about the future before christmas holidays : futures review and answers.
Reading: St.B.p.37. We started with a review of the narrative tenses reading two scrambled stories checking the tenses on St.B.p. 134. Then two stories to practise these tenses: exercises and answers. I asked you to see chapters 6,15 and 16 in your grammars.As I don´t have much time in the class, there are certain activities you should do on your own at home and then ask me any doubts you have in class.
Phonetics: St.b.p. 38. Pronunciation of regular past tenses. We saw the main rules for their pronunciation and did the exercise focussing on /t/,/d/ and /id/.
Listening: St.B.p. 38. someone telling a friend a funny story about a safary. Note taking activity .
Speaking: Retell your partner the stories with as many details as possible.
Homework: grammar, units 5,15, 16.
ROMINA ALONSO ALONSO has sent us this song. I sincerely appreciate your contribution with the music in this blog.You are a lot more up- to- date than I am .

VIRUNGA VOLCANO

NEYLA CARBALLO has sent us this interesting article.
Virunga volcano erupting, Gorillas not threatened
Taken at 5.48 on 2 January 2010 from Rumangabo park station in Virunga National Park. Copyright www.gorilla.cd
Volcano erupts in Congo gorilla park
January 2010. Mount Nyamulagira, situated in Congo's Virunga National Park and one of Africa's most active volcanoes, erupted in the early hours of 2nd January 2010, according to the Congolese Wildlife Authority. The volcano is 10,033 feet (3,058 metres) high and lies just 15 miles north of the densely populated city of Goma. The eruption started with a huge bang before the lava started being ejected from the crater, according to eye-witness reports from park rangers.
Careful monitoring
"A volcanic eruption in the park is a source of great concern and we are working closely with the relevant authorities to assess the risk and to take appropriate measures. Rangers have been deployed to the area to monitor the flow of lava and will be reporting back hourly," said Emmanuel de Merode, Director of Virunga National Park.
Humans and chimps in danger - Gorillas OK
The Congolese Wildlife Authority's primary concern is the threat to human settlements in this densely populated area. In addition, lava flow is likely to destroy habitat occupied by an endangered population of about 40 chimpanzees and other wildlife that is prevalent on the volcano's lower slopes. Fortunately no mountain gorillas live on the flanks of the Nyamulagira volcano; Congo's 200 critically endangered mountain gorillas live on the flanks of the Mikeno volcano.
"I was woken at 3.45 by a loud bang, which I first thought was the sound of war. I thought there was fighting again near our park station", said Innocent Mburanumwe, warden for the southern sector of Virunga National Park. "Then I saw the mountain was on fire with sparks flying. We could see that we were not in immediate danger here at Rumangabo, but there are many people who live to the south of the volcano, where the lava is heading."
Mount Nyamulagira (also spelled Nyamuragira) is situated in Virunga National Park (North Kivu province) 15 miles (25 kilometers) north of Lake Kivu and the city of Goma (with 600,000 inhabitants) and is 3,058 meters (10,033 feet) high. It is one of the most active volcanoes in Africa, registering over 35 eruptions since 1882. The last eruption was in 2006. It is one of eight volcanoes found on the borders of DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. It is a shield volcano, gently sloping in the shape of a flattened dome and built almost exclusively of lava flows.

But Was It Murder?

But was it murder? Is a short novel by Jania Barrell. The story is about a murder mystery. I chose this book because I like detective books to think about how the story will end.
This book focuses on the death of a man, Alex Forley and explains how Detective Inspector Rod Eliot tries to find if Was it murder? And if so, who was the murderer?
The protagonist is Rod Eliot who goes with Jaime Bowen, another policeman, who reports him of a death in Blackheath Village (London). Alex Forley was a rich and handsome white man in his thirties and nobody hates him, so it is difficult to solve the case.
During the investigation Eliot and Bowen ask their neighbours about Forley, but Mr and Mrs Crowther are friends of Alex, they don´t have any reason to kill him. On the other hand, Amanda Grant who was his girlfriend had an argument but it was not an important reason to kill him.
A clue is a gun which was found near the body. In the gun there are only yhe death´s man fingerprints but Eliot discovers that the gun belongs to Mr Crowler, his neighbour. Another clue is that Alex has headaches and visits Philip Wilver, his doctor. The doctor lies about his test results, he tells Alex that he has a brain tumour since Philip knows that Alex is planning to kill himself if his test results show it.
The main reason to the murder is that Alex is having a secret affair with Lisa Wilver, the doctor’s wife and Philip wants to kill Alex.
I like this book very much since the end surprised me because I thought that the murderer was Mrs Crowler.

ROMINA ALONSO ALONSO NI2
Thank you Romina for the songs you have sent for the blog.

GIANT OCTOPUS

Holidays
Last summer, Iwent to Portugal with my parents, we went by plane and I stayed in lisbon,in a hotel with a swimming pool and a lot of gardens.
I visited a lot of places. I saw the centre of Lisbon and other cities
I saw museums, scultures, parks,squares...
I learned many things because Lisbon is a very cultural town and it has a rich history and many legends.
I went for ten days, there ate the traditional food of Lisbon and only drank water because I don’t like anything else.
I had good luck because the weather was good :every day was sunny.
I went shopping just to buy too many things I love, I bought clothes an d souvenirs. For my friends and family I bought postcards of the places I had been.
I drove back to see Galicia, which is very beautiful, and also to see family and friends I have there. I hope this year is similar to or better than last year.



This photo is “Boca do inferno”, Cliff is a very famous and is in Cascais near Estoril where is a famous casino. There are many people lose all their money and decide to commit suicide by jumping off this cliff.
IRENE ARROYO GARCIA NB2

TWO LIVES &THE GREAT GASTBY

“TWO LIVES”

“Two lives” was written by Helen Naylor in 2001.
I chose this book because I like romantic stories . This is a love story of a young couple Megan and Huw that live in the village of Tredonald, and their love remains till the end of their lives. This book is divided into two parts. The first part is about love between Megan and Huw when they were young. Huw had to go with his father to work to another city and their love ended.
The second part is fifty yearslater. It consists of the love between them when they are old. They return to find and write each other until Huw decides to go to see her. Huw discovers that during all this time that Megan and he have a daughter together . Megan is on the verge of marrying her boyfriend Paul. But they don´t do it because Huw has come back to appear in Megan's life
At the end Megan and Huw decide to spend the rest of their lives together.
I think that this book is one of the most entertaining that I´ve read in English. I recommend it to you because it is a very nice story.
ANA SUAREZ PULGAR NI2


The Great Gatsby is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the Great Gatsby the reader is taken into New York. The narrator is Nick but the main character is Mr Gatsby, his neighbour.
The story begins with Nick´s visit to his sister Daisy and her husband, Tom. In this visit Nick meets Tom´s mistress, Myrtle, and he listens for many times to his neighbour´s name.
Some time later he finds out that his neighbour was his sister´s boyfriend when they were young and they are still in love . So Nick and his girlfriend, Miss Baker, organize a date between Mr Gatsby and Daisy.
Days later, everybody goes to New York: Daisy and her husband, Nick and his girlfriend and Mr Gatsby. In this trip Tom finds out that his wife and Mr Gatsby are in love and they have an argument. So Mr Gatsby and Daisy decide to escape but in their escape they run Tom´s mistress over. They don´t mean to do it.
Myrtle´s husband looks at Gartsby´s yellow car and he goes to driver´s house and shoots him.
Finally Daisy can´t carry out her dream:to live with Gatsby for the rest of their lives.
It seems to me that it´s a good book because it mixes love with a bit of intrigue. In my opinion the end is unpredictable because I think that Daisy and Mr Gatsby will live their love but it isn´t like this.
IGNACIO GRANA CUERVO NI2

Let me remind you that the photos and images you send me for the blog have to be "jpg" otherwise they won´t come out.